While Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing high growth and a thriving economy driven by the Indian government’s policies, not very far away, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is burning with anger. Protests erupted across the region on 29 September, shaking Islamabad’s control and exposing deep fractures hidden beneath decades of neglect.
What started as demonstrations over rising electricity prices and a shortage of subsidised wheat soon transformed into a larger expression of frustration against the Pakistani state’s economic exploitation and political suppression.
The people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) are fighting a system that treats them as subjects, not citizens.
The protests, led by an alliance of traders, civil society groups, and local activists, paralysed major towns, marking one of the biggest uprisings in PoK in over four decades. Streets that were once busy with the motions of daily life were filled with slogans of resistance and grief. At least a dozen civilians were killed, several police officers injured, and hundreds more wounded in clashes that turned the region into a zone of unrest.
The chants, civilian deaths, and the region’s cries for justice have barely found space in the headlines of global newspapers. It begs the question: Why is it that even a brief internet shutdown in Jammu and Kashmir becomes a global talking point, but the real–life misery of those living in PoK barely earns a line? The contrast is hard to ignore. It exposes a selective conscience, where outrage is reserved only for the suffering that fits a familiar script.
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A story of numbers
The world’s gaze often follows power and narrative, not pain and truth. For decades, Pakistan has crafted its image as the “voice” of Kashmir, positioning itself as the eternal victim while keeping the truth of its occupied territory buried under censorship and propaganda. International media, too comfortable with the familiar narrative, rarely bothers to look across the Line of Control (LoC) to see what life in PoK really looks like. There, dissent is treated as treason, voices are silenced, and rights exist only on paper. And the lack of coverage is not just neglect, it is quiet complicity that lets injustice thrive in the shadows.
Across the LoC, Jammu and Kashmir is moving in an entirely different direction. Roads are being built, investments are coming in, and there is a growing sense of possibility. It’s not without its flaws or challenges, but the contrast with PoK is impossible to ignore. On one side, people are protesting for electricity, water, food, and the right to speak without fear. On the other, the conversations are about tourism, education, and new businesses.
The numbers tell a clear story. In February, India allocated $14 billion for Jammu and Kashmir for FY 2024-25. For the same year, Pakistan managed about $790 million for PoK. The gap is so vast that comparison is futile. Projections for 2024-25 showed Kashmir’s GDP growing at 7.06 per cent—higher than even India’s national average—while PoK’s economy is crumbling under inflation, which hit 37.97 per cent in May this year.
Jammu and Kashmir has four airports to PoK’s two, with 12 times more air traffic. As of 2022, Jammu and Kashmir had 2,812 hospitals against PoK’s 23. These are not just figures on paper—they reflect two completely different realities: one region is overcoming obstacles on its development path, as the other sinks under neglect.
The contrast between Kashmir and PoK lays bare how empty the Two-Nation Theory is. An idea built on religion as the defining marker of a nation collapses when you see PoK—sharing the same faith as Kashmir, but gripped by protests, economic collapse, and human rights abuses.
For decades, Pakistan has justified the existence of PoK on the idea that Kashmiri Muslims could only be safe and “free” under its flag, calling it “incomplete Partition”. Many in Pakistan claimed that religion alone determined belonging. The lie now stands exposed.
Amana Begam Ansari is a columnist and writer. She runs a weekly YouTube show called ‘India This Week by Amana and Khalid’. She tweets @Amana_Ansari. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)